Gennady Golovkin Set to Be Chosen as World Boxing Leader, Will Guide Sport Toward Olympic Games in LA 2028
Ex-middleweight world titleholder Gennady Golovkin will be chosen as the head of the global boxing federation and lead the sport as it prepares for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics.
The boxing legend, who earned a silver medal in the 2004 Athens Games and achieved the most world title defences in the history of the middleweight division, is the sole nominee for president endorsed by the sport’s autonomous selection committee for the upcoming vote. As a result, he will take charge of World Boxing, which was established as the authority for Olympic-style amateur boxing this year.
That role used to be held by the former international boxing body, but it was expelled by the IOC in 2023 following a string of judging, corruption and governance scandals.
In his platform, the 43-year-old Golovkin, whose first term runs until 2027, vowed to restore trust in the sport and secure boxing’s long-term place in the Olympic programme, starting with the Los Angeles 2028.
“As an amateur, I proudly won a second-place finish at the 2004 Athens Olympics, symbolizing Kazakhstan but the principles of integrity and hard work that define Olympic boxing,” he wrote. “As a professional, I became a multiple-time unified world champion, recognized for my integrity, respect, and commitment to clean competition.
“I am dedicated to improving oversight, ensuring financial transparency, developing technology to ensure impartial scoring, and expanding opportunities for athletes of all genders in all corners of the globe.”
The International Olympic Committee organized the boxing tournaments itself at the 2021 Tokyo Games and the Paris 2024 Games. However, after the recent Games were marred by disputes about sex eligibility, it said it needed a fresh collaborator in time for 2028.
In February, it granted recognition to World Boxing, which then ran the 2025 world championships in the city of Liverpool. For that event, World Boxing introduced a mandatory sex screening test, to determine the eligibility of male and female athletes, a step which the Olympic committee is also considering for LA 2028.
